AUBURN HILLS -- After scoring 13 points in the Pistons win over the Kings, Austin Daye was asked if the basket was looking a little bigger for him these days.

Daye said it looked the same size, but he was shooting the ball with more confidence.

After going 9 for 11 from the field and scoring 20 points in a win over Atlanta Friday, Daye admitted the basket is beginning to look larger.

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"It looked a little bigger tonight," Daye said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me early. Then coach ran a couple plays for me. It feels good to be out there and feel comfortable again.

"Coach is giving me a lot of confidence by running pick-and-roll things for me. Before I wasn't getting a whole lot of that. It just feels good to be out there and just be a little loose."

Daye is averaging 12.3 points in his last four games, all Pistons' wins. Daye is also shooting 71.4 percent from the field (20 for 28) during that span.

"You got to be really proud of Austin, for him to step up the way he did and really respond,"," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "Austin keeps on growing and building, and it's great to see."

After sitting for the first month and half of the season, it took a few games for Daye to get comfortable. But now Daye is playing with confidence.

Keeping his confidence while sitting on the bench was tough, but Daye said he never doubted his skills.

"I went through a lot," Daye said. "It's tough to always stay confident, but I always told myself, 'I can play this game at a high level.' I know that, even last year I wasn't playing a whole lot. ... I just look at like, 'Hey, if I get an opportunity, I'm going to take advantage of it.' "

Frank has been impressed with the way that Daye has stepped up and has more than once taken the time to praise Daye's professionalism this season.

"Quite frankly when Austin had all those DNPs, in his mind he had to prepare himself for a bunch of different scenarios, 'Am I ever going to play? Are they going to keep me here?' Yet to his credit, and we've talked about it a bunch since he's been inserted into the rotation, he stayed very professional throughout," Franks said. "He was ready. That's why you're proud of guys like that, who you term professional players.

"It's easy to be coached when things are going well for you. It's how do you deal with it when you think you're getting the short end of the stick? Austin really stood out in his attitude, his approach and his work ethic. Regardless of the fact that he wasn't playing and wanted to play, and felt he deserved to play, it never impacted the way he approached his job. That's being a professional."

The Pistons hope Daye can continue his hot shooting when they host the Charlotte Bobcats Sunday.

The Bobcats have lost 19 of 20, but Frank knows Detroit can't afford to overlook anybody.

"If we don't have an edge (Sunday) we'll lose. It's that simple," Frank said. "Charlotte goes into Chicago, they controlled the whole entire game. That was without (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist. ... There's a lot of parody in this league. Usually the team that plays harder, more times than not wins the game.

"For us, regardless if we were playing Charlotte tomorrow or if we were playing the Clippers, if we don't have the right approach then we'll get what we deserve. There's cleanup and going through things, and seeing areas where we have to get better. We have to keep that hunger, that thirst, that edge or you'll suffer the consequences."

The Bobcats feature Ben Gordon, who Detroit traded in the offseason.

Gordon is averaging 13.4 points a game this season, but has picked up his scoring as of late, averaging 16.2 in his last five, including 27 Friday against Cleveland.

Dave Pemberton covers the Pistons for The Oakland Press. Email him at dave.pemberton@oakpress.com and follow him on Twitter @drpemberton.